I took Dominic to the vet a week or two ago to get all of his latest vaccines. I mentioned to the vet that he's been experiencing what seem to be panic attacks in recent weeks. He was fine for a full year. He showed no interest at all in going upstairs into the cat's domain. We even got through July 4th fireworks last year without major incident.
One night last month, however, he was scrambling at the back door to get back inside, where he was panting, drooling, and shaking. I thought he ate something terrible and was about to puke, so I took him back outdoors again. Outside, though, he hid under the porch stairs or ran nervously to the front gate then back into hiding again. Now, he's afraid to be in the back yard alone (but fine when I go with him), he's terribly frightened of fireworks (pulling strongly to run back home or hide in any available corner while out on walks), and he insists on hiding upstairs in a corner of my bedroom, greatly disturbing the Cat-Dog Détente in the house.
So I bought a nifty child gate that fit at the bottom of the stairs and worked nicely. Until suddenly it didn't. Yesterday, I found the gate chewed to pieces and on the floor, dog upstairs. There was blood on the gate where he had injured himself trying to chew at all of the obvious connecting points, trying to get past it. Dog scolded and spanked then checked for bleeding gums or lost teeth. (He was fine.) The gate was still functional enough that I put it back in place.
Today, I come home and find it in place but torn apart and basically useless as any kind of fence. Furthermore... well... he tore the bottom step to shreds, down to bare wood, trying to claw his way under and through the gate.
I learned early that he doesn't tolerate cages. I tried when I first got him to put him in a kennel while I was at work. He destroyed that quickly enough and injured himself in the process of escaping it. It took almost 2 months for his face to heal. Fine. He was well behaved in all other aspects, so sleeping on his mat on the floor by the couch was no problem.
I wish I knew what was triggering these panic episodes, though.
Back on that first day, with the panting and drooling and shaking, the only moments when he would freeze and stand perfectly still were when cars drove down the street blaring loud *thumpa*thumpa* music. Did somebody take a pot shot at the dog in the back yard while driving down the street? I don't know.
I also don't know the first 2 years of his history, either, so maybe there's some other trigger from his early life. He definitely has a brand new distaste for loud noises, though, which makes life in the #WarzoneInMinneapolis difficult now.
Earlier today, I scheduled a weekend appointment with someone interested in meeting Dominic as potential new owners. Tonight, though, I worry about how they'll react to this new need of his for either quiet surroundings or full access to the house. Maybe he'd be fine with another dog around to take his cues from during human absence?
I dunno. If this behavior continues unsolved, then he'll end up back in the shelter system, which won't be any good for him. (See: "cages" above.)
I'm not a happy camper today.
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